Baby hiccups, already in mommy’s belly
Hiccups are very common in children, especially in infants they can be impressive. They can last half an hour or even an hour. Fortunately, they’re not painful for the baby and they don’t bother him because he got used to it from his first few months of intrauterine life. And yes, it’s a feeling your child already felt in your belly! Indeed, as of the twentieth week of pregnancy, the fetus has hiccups. So you don’t have to worry.
These seizures are getting rarer and rarer over the months. However, we give you the Italian ′′ mammas ′′ thing to relieve Baby: a little drop of lemon pressed on the tongue of the boutchou! The recipe is, it seems, effective at 100 %.
The causes of Hiccups
Hiccups are due to sudden and unintentional spasmodic contraction of the diaphragm. It occurs when the stomach, filled with air or liquid, expands. This causes the nerve to stretch the commanding the diaphragm and leads to some kind of ′′ disturbance ′′ of this muscle. The diaphragm then contracts uncontrolled and repetitively, causing the vibration of vocal chords. The guttural sound characteristic of the hiccups is caused by the brutal closure of the glotte according to each spasm.
The hiccups were filled with milk (after breast or bottle) or air (after laughter or crying). The stomach, increasing in volume, stimulates the diaphragm (the muscle that separates the belly from the lungs), which contracts uncontrolled and repetitively. The characteristic ′′ hic ′′ is caused by the brutal closure of the glotte following each of these spasms. Hiccups last an average of 30 minutes to an hour, with a frequency ranging from four to sixty contractions per minute.
Not necessarily following a meal: baby can be taken from a hiccup with an empty stomach, even if most of the time the crisis occurs during or after a meal ends. In this case, it’s not that he ate too much, but rather that he swallowed his bottle or his pellet with too much rush. To avoid this inconvenience, we make sure our child eats slowly, eventually taking breaks in the meal.
Hiccups may appear because baby is too stimulated: Too much agitation, too many solicitations can piss him off, making him swallow air and causing hiccups. To calm him down, we hold him in our arms (the ′′ laying flat ′′ position on our forearm can be very effective) and we walk him patting his back, rocking him or trying to distract him. If it is obviously exhausted, even if the hiccups persists, it can be laid, without fear.
Hiccups are normal!
Hiccups are an extremely ordinary phenomenon in newborn babies. Some babies have it almost permanently the first few weeks of their lives. If hiccups are not accompanied by any other symptoms, there is no need to worry. If contractions prevent the child from sleeping and if they are accompanied by fever or vomiting, we tell the doctor about it.
How to calm baby hiccups
Not painful for the child, hiccups disappears on their own. So we must be patient. Nevertheless, if it continues, this phenomenon can annoy your baby. Hiccups sometimes appear when your child is too stimulated. To calm him down, hug him, stroll him by patting his back, rocking him… You can eventually give him pure water, sweet water or milk to suck. There are also homeopathic remedies for hiccups, including for infants… Ask your pediatrician. Hiccups can also appear after meal. So don’t hesitate to take your baby on your lap for about 20 minutes after feeding him. To avoid hiccups, you can also sequence meals more, give it smaller amounts of food, but more often. If you give him the bottle, have him rotate every two or three minutes.